Signature silliness

I've mentioned in the past how my man cave — which is actually located upstairs in my house — is full. No more room for framed autographs. Gracing the walls are signatures from ice hockey legends, such as Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, along with a small peloton's worth of cycling stars, including Fausto Coppi, Tom Simpson, Bernard Hinault, and Fabian Cancellara.

Johan Museeuw.

However, despite my lack of space for displaying such treasures, I seem unable to stop collecting these priceless — at least to me — pieces of history. Two additional prizes from the bicycle world have recently joined my growing list of John Hancocks.

Both were obtained through All Autographes, an online service based in Paris, France. I was keen to acquire both of them because of my affinity for Belgium and the Tour of Flanders.

First to join the collection was a signed photograph of Johan Museeuw, a Belgian professional road racing cyclist from 1988 until 2004. He was nicknamed the Lion of Flanders because of his winning ways in the one-day spring classics. Museeuw captured both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix three times. Also on his list of palmares — the French word for "list of achievements" — was being crowned the road racing world champion in 1996. The photo shows Museeuw kissing the cobblestone trophy after one of his Paris-Roubaix victories.

The second one making its way to my home was that of Rik Van Looy, another Belgian professional cyclist who dominated the classics races in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In fact, he was nicknamed the King of the Classics and the Emperor of Herentals (the small Belgian city where he lived).

Rik Van Looy.

Van Looy amassed 367 professional road victories. But his big claim to fame is that he was the first cyclist to win all five Monuments, the most prestigious one-day classics — Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Giro di Lombardia. Only two others, also from Belgium, have accomplished this historic feat — Roger De Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx. In what I think of as a bit of a coup, I now have the autographs of all three of these gentlemen.

Van Looy put his signature on the photograph I have in September of last year. He passed away a few months later in December, at the age of 90. So, I feel fortunate to have obtained such a cycling gem.

STRONG START. My 2025 cycling season has begun well — missing only four days outdoors during January. Despite the chilly temperatures and the occasional snowstorm, I managed to accumulate a total of 491 miles on my bicycles for the first month of the year.

COME TOGETHER. In my quest to pedal more often with others, I'm floating the idea of organizing a group ride. I'm thinking it would happen on the first Saturday of every month, once the nice weather returns, with loop options of — 21, 24, 32, 36 or 40 miles — starting from Hallowell. I'm seeking comments from my cycling friends in Maine to gauge their interest in such a proposal. Please let me know and stay safe!